We help bright students from poor families finish SAS high school with financial aid. We solicit the public for donations to fund our financial aid program.

Monthly Archives: November 2014

Meet Ms Paz Hadoc, teacher at St Augustine School, Tagudin, Ilocos Sur, Philippines. She knows how important and critical her job is in shaping student behavior, not only in cognitive skills, psycho-motor skills but also and more importantly in attitudinal skills.

To the seriously motivated student, Ms Paz Hadoc exemplifies perfection. What gifts does a teacher give besides her attention and devotion to her profession and students? Plenty. Just look at the photos in the slide show. Come up with your own answers.

“I’m so glad to get out of this concentration camp!” Carmen declared as she received her high school diploma. Somewhat hot-headed, she’s had several run-ins with the school principal, Reverend Mother Marie Cabrini. Carmen was a straight A student. Excellent in athletics she represented the school in the inter-provincial intramural contests as the varsity volleyball team captain. Under her leadership they have won titles two seasons in a row.

That summer we heard Carmen won a full athletic scholarship to the University of the Philippines, the most prestigious college in the entire Philippine archipelago. It came as no surprise. The class overwhelmingly voted Carmen most likely to succeed. Carmen’s good fortune was the talk of the town. Her securing a full scholarship inspired many from her graduating class. Even those who had no plans of attending college. Why, the news even prompted Dalub Guro, an otherwise shy and timid geeky young man, to apply for acceptance at Saint Louis University in Baguio City. Dalub was going to just hang out, watch the bull rushes grow by the sloughs of Barangay Dardarat and gather edible snails and frogs.

Their graduating class held a reunion recently. A little over half the class attended. For many, class reunions turn out either good or bad depending on many factors. That’s one reason for the low turnout. Some class members had gone overseas to work, many of them settling for mundane, domestic jobs. Most of the overseas workers didn’t make it to the reunion. Carmen was not in attendance. Everybody looked for her. She was nowhere to be found.

Dalub Guru was there though. Resplendent in a three-piece suit, Dalub was a changed personality. He was no longer shy and timid. He had gotten rid of his terrible acne, traded his thick horn-rimmed glasses for contact lenses and took on the persona of a Tommy Lee Jones. There were rumors that Carmen wound up in Mindanao teaching Math and Science at a local high school. During a class excursion to the coast that Carmen supervised, a secret admirer, a Muslim pearl diver, one of her older students in her class allegedly abducted her. He kept her sequestered in his house for at least six months before letting her free. She married him unwillingly. But as dictated by the local laws and morality rules she had no choice.

Class reunions, where, “Whatever happened to. . . .?” questions allow folks to catch up with former classmates. Class reunions, where the answers given are bound to shock you.

The Tagudinian Association of Canada (TAC) held a Hawaiian Night Dinner and Dance Party last Saturday, November 1st 2014 at Garnet A Williams Community Center, 501 Clark Avenue West Thornhill, Ontario L4J 4E5.

Organized by TAC President, Mr Gerry Leal, and ably assisted by his lovely wife, Mrs. Norma Leal from Ambalayat, the dinner and dance event was well attended and was very successful. Jen Consentino and other TAC officers helped plan and facilitate the event.

The celebration gave all of us who attended an opportunity to see and meet our kababayans and neighbors, former classmates, neighborhood friends, relatives and friends – Josephine Villanueva Lasquite, SAS alumna, Jennifer Lacasandile Cosentino, and Maricar Bangsoy were some who attended.

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DONORS Comments

"It makes me feel good inside to help these bright kids finish high school. I don't have much but that's okay. The important thing is that we should all give something back." from Dr Ernesto Lardizabal, DVM (Ret), San Francisco, California

"I think it's easy to forget those who are less fortunate because we get caught up in so many things in addition to our jobs. But remembering our beginnings brings us back to reality so we help." from Descha Uy Candido, Livorno, Italy

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